Isolation and Characterization of Two Lytic Bacteriophages, φSt2 and φGrn1; Phage Therapy Application for Biological Control of Vibrio alginolyticus in Aquaculture Live Feeds
Bacterial infections are a serious problem in aquaculture since they can result in massive mortalities in farmed fish and invertebrates. Vibriosis is one of the most common diseases in marine aquaculture hatcheries and its causative agents are bacteria of the genus Vibrio mostly entering larval rearing water through live feeds, such as Artemia and rotifers. The pathogenic Vibrio alginolyticus strain V1, isolated during a vibriosis outbreak in cultured seabream, Sparus aurata, was used as host to isolate and characterize the two novel bacteriophages φSt2 and φGrn1 for phage therapy application. In vitro cell lysis experiments were performed against the bacterial host V. alginolyticus strain V1 but also against 12 presumptive Vibrio strains originating from live prey Artemia salina cultures indicating the strong lytic efficacy of the 2 phages. In vivo administration of the phage cocktail, φSt2 and φGrn1, at MOI = 100 directly on live prey A. salina cultures, led to a 93% decrease of presumptive Vibrio population after 4 h of treatment. Current study suggests that administration of φSt2 and φGrn1 to live preys could selectively reduce Vibrio load in fish hatcheries. Innovative and environmental friendly solutions against bacterial diseases are more than necessary and phage therapy is one of them.
Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Former American Base of Gournes, Heraklion 71003, Crete, Greece;Marine Biological Section, University of Copenhagen, Helsingør, Denmark;Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Former American Base of Gournes, Heraklion 71003, Crete, Greece;Institute of Biology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile;Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Former American Base of Gournes, Heraklion 71003, Crete, Greece;Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Former American Base of Gournes, Heraklion 71003, Crete, Greece
Recommended Citation:
Panos G. Kalatzis,Roberto Bastías,Constantina Kokkari,et al. Isolation and Characterization of Two Lytic Bacteriophages, φSt2 and φGrn1; Phage Therapy Application for Biological Control of Vibrio alginolyticus in Aquaculture Live Feeds[J]. PLOS ONE,2016-01-01,11(3)